To Forfeit
by candycoatedkayla
Summary: They gave her nothing. But she gave them her all. She was gone but not lost. [Team Seven] oneshot


Summary: They gave her nothing. But she gave them her all. She was gone but not lost. Team Seven one-shot

Italics-thoughts

* * *

Twisted inert forms littered a rocky expanse of land, bathed in their own life liquid. Garbled cries for help pierced the air, as the ones still alive writhed in pain. Two olive colored eyes widened in horror as the object of their fear snarled. The beast-like man grunted as he lifted the female body up in the air. 

_Who knew a mere girl could put up such a struggle?_

"Prepare to die Kunoichi." He eyed her curvy body with liking. Her petal like hair and green eyes were rare, that much he could tell. Her beauty amazed him actually. Never in his life had he seen such an exotic girl. It was a shame she was going to die _tonight_.

Sakura gasped for breath as the man choked the life out of her. Her feet dangled pathetically in the air as he pressed his abrasive hands tighter around her neck. Her left arm hung at her side at an awkward angle, as the man had previously twisted it out of place. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you." he slurred. She swung her good arm at him, in a last attempt to free herself, and watched with satisfaction as he stumbled back inelegantly from the force. The medic nin half dragged her body away, when she saw her attacker get up.

Somehow, beyond the horrific form of her soon to be slaughterer, she made out the forms of Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. They were still standing, unlike her, and were too far for Sakura to seek help from. She didn't even have enough strength to stand let alone run to her teammates for help.

They were supposed to be on a simple scouting mission in Rock Country when they were ambushed and forced to fight. The missing nin had a lot of earth based jutsu and Sakura found herself using her inhuman strength more than once to dodge massive earthquakes and boulders.

_I'm eighteen years old and I'll never be able to grow old or ever marry Sasu-._

A rough push to the side made the pink haired girl snap out of her thoughts. Just as she rolled to her left a katana, hit where her head had once been. She looked up to see who her savior was and her pale eyes met dark swirling commas. Her silver haired sensei had managed to save her just before her head would've been sliced off. _Wouldn't be the first time. _Something in her head rang.

Yet, Sakura ignored it and rolled out of the way as an arrow was aimed in her direction.

"Move!" The Jounin yelled. Never in her life had Sakura been more happy to here those words.

She shifted in her distorted position on the ground, trying in vain to get up. She propped herself up against a boulder and sighed in relief as the pain in her arm ceased. Her peace was short lived when the rock that was serving as her shelter exploded.

The pink haired girl groaned when the beast from before lifted her in the air once again, his anger had tripled. "Your more trouble than your worth little Kunoichi, I'll like watching you die." He unsheathed his katana and thrust it towards her side.

"Then your coming with me." Her gloved hand smashed into his chest leaving him airless.

His katana ripped through her body, as he dropped to the ground dead. Sakura slumped to the ground, watching half-heartedly as blood seeped down her side. She looked around and saw innocent civilians laying lifeless and many taking their few last breaths. She pulled the katana out her side and had to bite her lip because of the pain.There were about fifty more Rock nin still alive and Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi still fighting. _And I'm not going to last much longer._

They had no clue where the supposed leader of the missing nin was as he disappeared when they first engaged in battle. Sakura squinted as she saw something in the distance. A tremble in the cracked ground made something in her heart sink. _An earthquake. _Not so far from them stood the leader. Koizumi was what Tsunade had called him. He didn't look like a regular missing nin. He was clothed in a Samurai garb, his chakra radiated his strong power.

Sakura glanced around wildly to see if her teammates were catching on. The faint sound of birds chirping filled her ears along with a whizzing sound. The rasengan and chidori took out the rest of the shinobi and the males of team seven didn't have much chakra left. It was up to her and only her.

_She was dying._

She took what energy she had stored and pushed herself up into a standing position. With a sharp intake of breath she popped her dislocated arm back into place and took her feeble fighting stance. Her chakra flowed into both arms, before she rushed to meet the oncoming earth attack.

The result was devastating. The ground split into two as the two chakras pulsed together creating a flying whirlwind of terrain. It was over even before it started.

_Goodbye._

_

* * *

_

Moonlight cascaded down on the jumbled earth when they found her. _Immobile._

Her hair was splayed across the earth hiding her face. It wasn't its natural pink color, but red with pieces of gravel mixed in. _Silent._ Her eyes were closed, its dark lashes forever covering jade eyes that once glittered._ Bloody._ Her clothes were tattered and the gloves that had once been on her hands, torn into pieces. They had been searching for her for hours. _Shattered. _

Naruto got to her first.

He picked up her broken body, the blood soaking his clothes until they weren't orange anymore.

"C'mon Sakura-chan." He shook her blood-splattered body several times. The moment his rasengan hand sunk into the flesh of his opponent, he knew he should have been protecting Sakura_. Just like always. _

"We still have to go on that date, remember?" He was crying now. "Get up Sakura-chan…tell me your just joking. I'm sorry if this is for the time I ruined your date with the teme." He pounded on her chest.

"You...promised...me…that you would see me become…Hokage." He jerked her body as if to awaken her. "YOU PROMISED!" His eyes weren't blue, but red. "NO!…I SAID GET UP!"

A gloved hand was on his shoulder. A gloved hand that wasn't as small as Sakura's.

"Naruto listen-"Kakashi began, but was cut off by Naruto's shriek.

"NO YOU LISTEN! SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS!" He just couldn't bring himself to say dead. "WE WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER! I LOVED HER!"

_I still love her._

"Shutup." A simple sentence. But cold, as always. Sasuke's face was stony and yet even more cold than it normally would have been. "NO!YOU NEVER ONCE CARED ABOUT SAKURA!" Naruto lunged for Sasuke, who narrowly dodged. "TEME!" Naruto's fist connected with the ex-avenger's jaw. "YOU NEVER CARED!YOU DIDN'T DESERVE HER LOVE." _I did. _

"How do you know that?" The Uchiha's voice was low, but still held some cold in it.

"Enough_." _Two strong arms separated the two. Kakashi closed his one visible eye. _This is really it, then._

Naruto sank to his knees in despair. His took his now clawed fist and banged it against the broken earth. Tears of anger, hurt, regret, and of lost love spilled down his face. _Why did you take my Sakura-chan?_ He looked up at the dark cloudless sky and screamed. He didn't care if he gave away their position to other Rock nins, nor did he care if his screaming wasn't going to help. And neither did anyone else on Team Seven.

Only the moonlight shone on the foursome, one of them dead. And only the sounds of Naruto's pained cries filled the air that night.

_Gone._

_

* * *

_

Bells rang that day.

They rang loud, letting every citizen in Konohagakure know that today was important.And every citizen did come. The original genin got the first row seats. Others who didn't even get a chair to sit down in, brought their own or they stood. It was snowing too. But it wasn't heavy snow, just a light flurry. _Just like her. _

The Godaime stood tall, but not proud, in front of a large podium. "You may all sit."

"We've come here to honor Haruno Sakura." Somewhere in the crowd Sakura's mother choked out a sob. "She was an exceptional kunoichi and she loved everything and everyone."

Naruto glared at Sasuke.

"She was the best medic nin I had ever had the pleasure of meeting…and training for that matter." Tsunade breathed in for a second. "Sakura never gave up hope and she kept fighting, even if things seemed bad. I've always admired that quality of hers and I..I never got to tell her that." Ino, who had her hand interlinked with Shikamaru, gave a heart wrenching cry.

"She was my apprentice, the daughter I never had. She was a true shinobi and we honor her."

She touched her forehead in a sign of respect before nodding her head. Everyone in the crowd touched theirs as well. Some when they touched their head felt metal and some felt skin, but whatever they touched they all felt the same thing. _Her._

"So thank you, Sakura." And then she sat down. It would not be long before she would break down into tears. She had to be strong for her people. Shizune who sat to the right of Tsunade motioned for the next person to come and speak.

Naruto stood and walked with a calm and composed posture towards the awaiting stage.

He looked out in the crowd and tried to identify familiar faces. Tenten who was practically sobbing on Neji's shoulder, cried even harder. Ino who had finished crying, just sat there looking numb while holding an equally sad Shikamaru's hand. Hinata stared off into the distance with silent tears streaming down her face. She noticed Naruto looking at her and offered a small smile which he returned. Maybe one day he would take her up on her offer to go get ramen. One day, when he could be happy again. He needed to heal.

_Healing. She was good at that._

The sand siblings even looked sad. Temari looked like she was about ready to swing her fan down on anybody that even looked at her the wrong way. Kankuro sat quietly with his hands at his side. She had saved his life once. So Naruto guessed he was remembering. _Remember._

Gaara looked as cold as the snow blowing down upon them. The only thing that gave his emotions away was his sand. It swirled dangerously around him every so often.

The sensei's of all the old genin teams sat with grave expressions. You couldn't really tell what Kakashi was thinking. He made sure only his one eye was visible. _To hide the pain._

And Sasuke. He couldn't even look Naruto in the eye. Naruto thought(Although he would never tell him) he was affected worse than anybody by Sakura's death. Naruto had a feeling that Sasuke had chosen Sakura to revive his clan. Just when Sakura had gotten him to loosen up she was taken cruelly from him.

All the villagers cried. But Sakura's mother was the loudest. She hugged her husband with all her strength and wept with every breath. Her pink hair screamed Sakura to him. It was too painful he had to look away.

The blonde cleared his throat before beginning. "What can I say? We all knew Sakura-chan, and she did everything she could to help the people of this village. She had this _bright _smile, so that when I was mad or hurt she could take away the pain. Although she was the main one who caused it, mind you." He cracked a smile. Half hearted chuckles rang throughout the crowd.

"She always thought we overprotected her. And yes we did. But, I liked to. I felt it was my duty to protect someone precious to me, the one I loved."

Hinata cast her eyes down. "But we move on and somehow find the ability to love again."

The Hyuuga Heiress raised her pale eyes with new filled hope.

"I like to think that Sakura made a sacrifice for us all. And she did. I would not be standing here if she did not take the actions that she did." He looked up into the white sky and smiled as a snowflake landed on his cheek. _Thank you, Sakura-chan._

"So, we should always remember Sakura for the good things she did and what she gave to each and everyone of us, hope." With that being said he walked silently back to his seat.

Sasuke was supposed to speak next but he had disappeared. Naruto got up and was about to chase after him when Kakashi nodded his head at him in a quiet gesture. _I'll get him._

* * *

The last Uchiha sat with his face in his hands on the cold stone bench that he had once laid Sakura on. _She didn't deserve to die._ His family hadn't deserved to die either. He gave a bitter laugh before getting up and looking off into the distance.

Towards the path where Sakura had once confessed her love for him at. And he had turned her offer away like a fool. If he would've known what he knew now….

"Why did you leave?"

He already knew who it was before he turned around. "I don't owe you any answer."

"But you owe Sakura one."

_Yes, I do._

"Why?" Sasuke really wanted to know.

"Why what?"

"Why did she have to die? It could have been anyone else….just not _her_!" This was the first time he showed any emotions since her death.

"It was her time." Kakashi stated.

"How can you say _that_? I was going to make her my _wife_!"

For the first time in a long time, Hatake Kakashi was surprised. His visible eye softened. "C'mon, you still have to say your speech."

Sasuke nodded his head ever so slightly. _I think I understand now. _A single pink petal fell down onto his lips and he picked it off with surprise. Sakura wasn't really dead she lived on in their hearts. _Sakura I love you. _But it would be along time before he admitted it out loud.

_

* * *

_

Sasuke stood in front of the podium and took a deep breath.

"I'm not here to tell you how she died, but about how she lived."

**

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_Fin_ **

**A/N: This little fic came to me when I was typing the sixth chapter for _MtP _so I decided to post it. Did you catch the Sasu/Saku? I also threw in a little Naruto/Hinata. I just didn't feel like making Naruto all of a sudden get over Sakura….it takes time. To tell you the truth I cried when I wrote some of this, but maybe that's because I'm just that emotional. LOL… So tell me what you thought.**


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